Any Day You Can Learn Something New Without Getting Hurt Is A Good Day... Taper Jig

My father in law recently gave me a block of wood (16”x25”x3”) that he says has been sitting in his basement for over 30 years. He challenged me by saying ”See what you can make out of this.” After listening to the wood for a while, it said that it wanted to become a small end table to sit by his favorite chair. Having never made an end table before, I was faced with a few challenges. Basic design and joinery being just a few of them. Earlier in the year I had spent 20 dollars on a Kreg Jr Pocket hole jig and put it in my cabinet and hadnt touched it since. Decided that the time had come to give it a go. Joinery issue solved. Then after looking at several table projects on LJ’s, I settled on a basic design. The problem arose that the table design I had chosen had tapered legs. A process I had never attempted in my short woodworking career. Once again, I looked at a few jigs posted on here for inspiration. As a first run through, I tossed one togther out some scrap 2×4’s. Since I wasnt sure the thing would actually work I didnt take the time to put it together as well as the ones I had looked at. Idea was pretty straight forward. Joined at one end with a small hinge, you set the gap by measuring between the cut line and the TS blade. When it is equal along the length of the cut you secure the jig. The ones I looked at had a adjustable bracket to do this and eventually I will add one to this jig. For trial purposes I used a thin strip of wood and two screws. A small block attached to the end holds the cut piece in the jig as it passes over the saw table. I cut the parts for the table out of some white oak slabs a buddy of mine had given me a few weeks back and then put them together with pocket hole screws. Now to clean that beastly block of wood up….its coming along.

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)

Thanks Jamie. being the woodworking guru that you are, do you think I should add corner braces to this piece? It was super stable but never having done pocket hole joinery before…will it loosen up over time??? Teach me ol master….lol

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)

Matt- Thanks buddy. Retirement??? What the heck is that…lol I work a funky 12hr schedule on a 28 day rotation. As such, I get 14 days off every 28 which includes a 7 day off stretch once a month. Really sucks when working because you dont get anything done on those days. My wife is a assistant principle at a local elementary school so stays super busy during the week and my kids are semi-grown. My daughter is married and working on her masters at Appy State and my son is a freshman at Tennessee tech. In short I am home alone…alot…lol

Hoss- Thanks buddy…. Funny how a 1/2 inch taper on two sides changes the whole look of the piece isnt it. Did it get as cold last night up in your neck of the woods as it did here? Got stuff to do but its hard to sand when hands are numb…lol Supposed to be 70 this weekend when I go back to work…mumble mumble

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)

Buster, kudos to you on several counts: 1. Tackling a new process, i.e taper jig and end table. 2. Mastering the challenge on both counts. 3. Turning out great pieces of work using your new skill set. Great work buddy, you make us LJs proud :).

L2L- Thanks ever so much for the kind words Lee. It is my hope to be half as good as you someday….would settle for a quarter though…lol

Jim- I was gonna post this thing yesterday and then you posted that albert einstein spline jig….wasnt any way in heck I was gonna have mine show up on the same page as that…I may be a half bubble off plumb but I aint crazy…lol Thanks for the nice comment oh jig, lathe and bandsaw master.

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)

Well done my friend. Why buy when you can build. Great way to utilize the knowledge of fellow LJ’s. The table turned out great with those legs. Sure wouldn’t want to be the one moving that table around with it’s weight.

-- Dave, Downers Grove, Il. -------- When you run out of ideas, start building your dreams.

Thanks Dave- I cant tell you how many times you fine folks on LJ’s have helped me out. Thinking you would be hard pressed to find a better bunch of folks anywhere else on line. Can honestly say I have learned something (or at least stolen an idea) from everyone on my buddies list

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)

Thanks Todd- If anyone can build one its you my friend. Its just too bad I have not figured out that liquid glass finish you do…it would have been super nice on this little table….oh well, maybe next time.

-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)